-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Four students publicly announce commitment to Jesus
Sonia Trevizo, Editor
Comments
Story
BOB BEERS/THE ARBITER Boise State sophomore Derek Toney awaits the life affirming plunge Thursday.
Four students made the decision to publicly announce they are followers of Jesus and were baptized at the Biblical Studies Center on campus Thursday Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. The Center, as it is often referred to, is located on 1025 Belmont street. The baptisms were done by youth pastor Mark Francey from Generation Church.
After a short worship, a quick sermon on the reality of Christianity and a prayer to invite the Holy Spirit, the baptisms took place.
“Baptism is our way of saying we’re identifying with Jesus’s death and resurrection,” pastor Francey said.
After the service Francey asked the crowd if anyone who had not planned on getting baptized felt compelled to do so to come forward. Two students that took that opportunity are junior Danika Friedley and sophomore Derek Toney.
“I just decided (to get baptized),” Friedley said. “I’ve become a part of this church and it means a lot to me.”
Toney is a wrestler at Boise State and has been a born again Christian for two years.
“It’s something that I’ve been debating about,” Toney said. “But tonight just put me over the edge.”
The students marched up to the plastic black tub that served as the baptismal and then one by one stepped in. They crossed their arms and waited for pastor Francey to say the baptismal prayer.
“Upon your confession of faith, we now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit. May you rise up in newness and in life.”
Once the prayer was completed the students were completely submerged in the water by two others helping Friedley. Two seconds later they emerge from the water, soaked and slightly chilled. Each student was prayed over by a group of other students as soon as they surfaced from the water.
Generation Church meets every Thursday night at The Center and holds baptisms once a month. Forty students have already made the decision to get baptized in the last 12 months.
“Our mission here is to plunder hell and populate heaven,” Francey said. “We want people to come to the knowledge of the truth… We’re not satisfied with 130 students, we want to reach the whole campus.”
I LOVE THIS!
Sorry, how is this newsworthy? This is only newsworty for the controversy in relation to the Debaptisms covered previously, yet not a single mention of that article. A writeup like this might be appropriate for the Culture section, but, as written, this is simply not News.
I think this is great news. Great article Arbiter!
Yeah I agree. Don't see the news worthiness.
Andrew Ford
I'd rather hear about this, than a murder, rape, car wreck etc. Good news is good.
Well, I like being aware if someone gets murdered/raped on campus- especially for my own personal safety.
And this isn't inherently good news. At best, it's like students subscribing to any other philosophy. Okay, four students decided they were communists, republicans, christians, buddhists, liked eggs, didn't like to eat meat, etc. Whatever.
I find this more insulting to the act of baptism than the debaptism ceremony. The debaptism ceremonies were at best a nuscence. A believer would believe and a non-believer would non-believe after words: no harm, no foul. Making a baptism a show, making it some sort of shtick is twisted. It taints the importance that the ceremony might have to someone who believes and it sends the message to atheists that christians don't care about these things themselves.
That people from the crowd were asked if they might want to be baptised on the spot is positively vile. The baptism of an adult is something that that adult should be thinking a long time about, giving themselves plenty of time to confirm in themselves their desired relationship with the divine. To ask if anyone wants baptism willi-nilly seems to mean that baptism, and by it a relationship with god, is not profound or meaningful.
The atheists made a poor joke; the christians covered themselves with filth in response.
Actually, John, "those" people from the crowd were not all "on the spot" decisions. They had wanted to be baptized before any camera showed up. The fact that the media showed up doesn't change how the church conducts itself on any given week. and a decision to be baptized on the spot is no different than any one of those students walking through the quad to be "dabaptized".
Hi guys. I'm not sure if anybody will see this because it is old news, so to speak. However, I can tell you that, first of all, anybody who had attended the service in previous weeks had warning and time to think about being baptized. But more importantly, I think I should point out, in a respectful way, that I can't think of a precedent in the Bible for spending a long time thinking about becoming baptized, In fact, Acts 22:16 say "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Baptism is a confirmation of your relationship with Jesus in that it is a cleansing of the spirit, but it is not the foundation of it. The foundation is confessing with your mouth "That Jesus is lord" and believing in your heart. (Rom 10:9).
The bible says baptism is repentence. So, if somebody chooses to be baptized on the spot it would be because they felt moved by God to repent of their sins and have them removed. No matter how quickly or slowly one makes that decision, it is still profound. I was there that night, and I don't think the intention of having the cameras there was to glorify ourselves. It was to show Boise State that there is a living God working on campus. If you get a chance to read this, consider trying the service out. The people are loving and, more importantly, it is strongly based in the bible.Thanks.